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Monthly Archives: November 2013

I’m a big fish person. I love serving fish as a main course. It’s healthy, easy, and a white fish especially can go with anything. I had a craving to do something new and different with a fish dish rather than just grilling. Breaded filets are a great alternative and quick and easy to do.

Ingredients:

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In the baking dish, add the breadcrumbs and lay each filet on top. sprinkle the breadcrumbs all over the top and press down, do not shake off excess. Place each filet, carefully in the baking dish and drizzle with olive oil.

3. Bake for 30-35 minutes until fish is cooked throughout.

4. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, honey,and balsamic vinegar until it is blended into a creamy sauce (no clumps).

5. Plate the tilapia and drizzle the sauce on top. Enjoy!

Results:

This turned out to be interesting but very delicious. I think I may have overdone it on the breadcrumbs, but they gave a nice crunch to the dish. I served it with a side of quinoa and some frozen peas. We had leftover sauce so we put it over the quinoa to jazz that up a little bit as well.

One of my go-to meals is a rotisserie chicken from the deli counter at the grocery store. It is quick, pre-cooked, and goes well with anything. It’s also a great meal on grocery shopping day, because I know the last thing I want to do after lugging grocery bags is preparing a full meal.

With rotisserie chicken on the brain, I stumbled upon a recipe for a casserole that would jazz things up a bit. This is great for a quick evening meal when most of the lift is done for you.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. At the same time, boil a few cups of water in a saucepan. Once the water hits a boil, pour in the broccoli. Once it hits a boil again, drain the broccoli.

2. While boiling, shred the chicken meat using a fork and/or your fingers.

3. Mix chicken, broccoli, cheese, and soup together in a bowl

4. Put entire mixture into a baking dish and cook for 25 minutes.

5. Scoop and enjoy!

Results:

YUM! Although it is a little more legwork than just serving rotisserie chicken straight up, the cheesy goodness makes it worth it. Definitely a good one to keep in your pocket. Also, second day leftovers would be equally as delicious.

Chili is a staple when it turns into autumn. It keeps you warm and full and is totally a comfort food. It is also ideal for feeding a crowd, as I did this weekend when BF’s brother was in town and brought a full appetite.

3. Pour in wet ingredients and mix to create a batter-like consistency. Pour batter into a baking dish that has been sprayed with the non-stick cooking spray. (You can also use leftover butter instead of cooking spray if you’d like).

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top and sides get crispy.

Results:

This was a great recipe to come home to. The apartment smelled amazing! And it was a crowd pleaser, especially with two hungry gents.

The microwave trick that ATC suggested was a wonder. Often, people brown the beef in a pan before throwing it in the crock pot. I thought this worked much better and saved me a pan to wash.

You can use however many cans of beans you want. I chose four because I had them in my cabinet. The original recipe calls for three. Your choice.

So, this one is a bit of a doozy. It’s not something I’d make every day or even on a work night. This one is for a good and chilly Sunday where you want something savory and you have a bit of time to dedicate to it. You’ll also be using a lot of your burners on your stove, so be sure it is ready to go.

Instructions:1. In a medium saucepan with a lid, combine chicken broth and white wine and heat just to simmering. Keep warm.

2. In a large pot, over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and sweat until translucent, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the rice and stir. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the grains are translucent around the edges. Be careful not to allow the grains or the onions to brown.

4. In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the mushrooms and asparagus tips until cooked. Remove from skillet and place in a bowl and cover with tinfoil.

**Take a look at how full the stovetop will be. If you have too many things going at once, you’re doing it right!

5. Get ready for an upper-body workout! Reduce the heat of the pot to low, and add enough of the wine and chicken stock just to cover the top of the rice. Stir the rice mixture, until the liquid is completely absorbed into rice. Once absorbed, add another amount of liquid just to cover the rice and continue stirring or moving as before.

Give yourself a good 35-45 minutes of stirring and pouring. WARNING: If you dump all of it in at once, it will take twice as long and the rice will be too crunchy. It is worth the wait/bicep improvement, I promise!

6. At this point, there should be just enough liquid left to make it one more stir. Add the asparagus and mushrooms back into the pot with the last bit of liquid and stir all together.

7. Mix in the Parmesan until melted.

8. Add a little extra Parmesan for a garnish and enjoy!

Results:

Like I said above, this is a good one for a chilly day where you have some time to dedicate to it. The stirring takes forever, but without it, the rice won’t cook through correctly.

It’s a delicious pasta-like dish that is filling and will warm you up! The mushrooms and asparagus complement each other really nicely in this dish. If you have other veggies you prefer, anything goes well in risotto.

Another one of my favorite take-out go-to’s is Chinese food. As we’ve discussed, it can be a pain on both the wallet and the waistline to order in take-out all the time. I enjoy finding alternatives to favorite meals that are usually healthier and often more delicious.

4. Once steak is cooked through but not too ‘well done’, pour in the sauce and the snap peas into the pan and mix together.

5. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Results:

This is definitely a lighter, healthier version than you’d find at the Chinese take-out place. The sauce is SUPER delish, too. Add a little extra hoisin for sweetness and adjust the red pepper for your preferred level of spicy.

The best steak to use is flank steak. It is often the most expensive in the meat counter and, depending on your grocery store, they may not even carry it. Alternatives are skirt steak or “London Broil”. You can really use any cut of steak you’d like, but make sure it’s not too too fatty, or else you’ll get a lot of grease in the pan and it’ll affect the flavor. Just make sure it’s a thin cut of meat.

I love using the snap peas as the vegetable in this one. They add a nice crunch to each bite.

This one is a household favorite! It’s simple in ingredients and effort, it makes your house smell terrific when you get home, and it’s really easy to throw together. There are usually enough leftovers of everything to provide a second meal. What’s not to love?

7. When the chicken is done, put it into a separate pan and shred it with a fork. It should just fall apart. Use additional salsa mix from the crock pot to flavor the chicken and add a little moisture.

8. Prepare the guacamole

8a. Guacamole is super easy and super delicious: Slice your avocados in half, scoop out the pit, and create a grid in the avocado meat.

Scoop out into a bowl and mix together with the guacamole mix. Voila!

9. Serve and enjoy!

Results:

This is a great weekday meal and allows you to be creative. The chicken is delicious and moist. Also, there are plenty of leftovers and we like to make chicken quesadillas with the leftover tortillas, chicken, and cheese. Two meals in one!

I’m a lover of goat cheese. It’s tangy delicious and it makes me feel grown up and sophisticated when I eat it. This recipe goes really well with the Fall chill in the air and sometimes you just want some cheesy pasta and to curl up with a good book.

(Please forgive me that the onion is pre-chopped – I always force J into chopping onions!)

1. In a large frying pan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter with 2 tablespoons of the oil over moderate heat. Add the onions, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and the sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are well browned, about 20 minutes. Remove from the pan.

Beginning

Browned

Caramelized!

2. In the same pan, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderate heat. Add the mushrooms and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and brown, about 8 minutes.

3. Add the reserved onions, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the pepper to the mushrooms and remove from heat.

4. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the ziti until just done. Reserve 3/4 cup of the pasta water and drain. Toss the ziti and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water with the mushroom mixture, the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, the goat cheese, and the Parmesan in the pasta pot. After mixing, pour in the reserve water and stir until all goat cheese has melted.

5. Serve with additional Parmesan and enjoy!

Results:

This worked out really nicely as a fall-tasting tangy recipe. I think next time I would add asparagus or another vegetable to liven up the color palate. Think of this as grown up mac-and-cheese.

Something to keep in mind – caramelizing onions takes a deceivingly long amount of time. On the clock, it takes about 20 minutes, but it seems like it should take less. Wait for the onions to brown and then keep browning them. They will get darker but not burn. This, with the combination of sugar and oil, will make them sweet. Don’t worry if it feels like it’s taking forever.

Also, on the gluten free note – gluten free pasta is an interesting animal. Because of its materials (the one featured above is potato based), you have to be mindful of the cooking time. If you overcook it, it will get sticky and kind of slimy. For regular pasta, I do a time estimate and hope for the best while checking done-ness of the noodles. With GF pasta, I always set a timer for 10 minutes and drain it at the buzzer. Otherwise, it can be a mess. I will say that taste wise, with a good sauce, you can’t even tell the difference!